Uncertain and Stronger Still
by tolkienlover
Summary: "So thank you for this life you have given me, Corrin. For the love, for the tears, for the years. I cannot think of any other way to have spent my life in this world than with you. In certainty, forever and always, I have loved you, I love you, and I will always love you. Remember that, won't you?" [Leo x Fe!MU; Fire Emblem: Fates.] Spoilers for Birthright and Conquest.
1. i

a/n: Well. This happened.

It's a story I've already finished (I'll be uploading the rest of it within the next few days), but it's definitely one heck of a story. It's dramatic, pretty fluffy, and has absolutely zero battle in it, so if you're here for that, I wouldn't bother with all 20000 words...haha.

Anyways, I worked my tail off on it (sorry, Kaden), and I hope you like it. It's definitely a...weird twist on the game, as I follow Leo through the beginning of the game until the end of his life. It's fluffy and it's goopy, but hopefully you're into that sort of thing, because here this is, in all it's glory. Leo is a little OOC, sometimes, just because there's some instances that I feel he would have changed to react that way. Anyways, I hope you love it as much as I do (I'm quite bias, though) and please enjoy!

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Fire Emblem: Fates or its characters. I did write a pretty long story about them, though.

RATED T FOR: Leo's excess use of "damn" and some suggestive stuff.

SPOILERS: For Birthright and Conquest, Fire Emblem.

* * *

Uncertain and Stronger Still

22,896 words.

* * *

 _i._

 _[You never did tell me how you felt those few days where you had to choose. I can't imagine they were anything worth remembering.]_

Corrin smiled into his mouth as he held her, hands entwined into his hair.

When her extended family visited the Northern Fortress, it was something of a dream, she figured. Something of a longing and a beauty—the fortress itself was so cold and unmoving, so lifeless and deserted, that the presence of her siblings and of her friends made it much more worthwhile.

From there, however, Corrin couldn't quite pin down when she had first fallen in love with Leo.

She assumed it was just brotherly love, a love grown because he visited her the most frequently and could often be valued at the highest in her heart. Leo loaned her books while he was away, brought stories and tales from outside the walls, and often told of his extravagant and dangerous missions that took him away from the fortress for so long. But he was really the only sibling that kept coming back, time after time, again and again.

Corrin knew he came mostly to appease his introverted, quiet self—the boy full of silent dreams and genius tactics—at first. But then his visits became more frequent than that and he would be around at least once a week, if not more, mostly for tea or for dinner, and Corrin loved it, him and his visits and his books.

Elise and Camilla visited, of course, quite often and with pretty presents of dresses and necklaces and teacups, but they never stayed long, and if they did, it was often to give Corrin lessons of etiquette or teach her about how a proper wife was to behave. Funny, really, since that seemed to be her only life purpose.

But it made her feel dull, made her feel dead, made her feel _lifeless._

So when Leo took her to the top of the castle and trained her, trained her with swords and with tomes and with staves, she felt alive; Corrin felt like _that_ was where she belonged, on the battlefield, fighting for what she believed in. Or perhaps changing the world, helping other trapped girls in stranded castles without fathers and without homes.

Feeling alive, she guessed, was what made her love Leo.

She associated him with it, the feeling of freedom and of passion, and soon enough, he became her everything, much to Jakob's dismay; Leo's visits made her smile throughout the week, his forgotten books stacked on her nightstand so she could read and reread, his laugh and his insight often replayed in her dreams.

If nothing else, Corrin figured it was because he was beautiful—cliché, in all ways, but Leo was. Something of an angel, but not quite; he was somewhere in between, a light sort of star to a dark, wicked sky. He was thoughtful and quiet, but never quite shy. Unsure, maybe, if he was blushing or laughing, but confident in his thoughts and in his processes. His eyes never seemed to dull, even in a world where his father sent him into deadly, moral-less missions, and left him battered and scarred.

She remembered that now as she kissed him.

Leo's kiss was remarkable—Jakob had always laughed at how she went on for hours about how the prince kissed her. Her butler always claimed she had nothing to compare it to, that Leo was magnificent because he was all she had. But she had kissed Silas once or twice, and many of her storybooks had told her what a kiss should be.

His kiss was certainly what it should have been.

He hadn't kissed her until he was sure they were unrelated, though at that point, Corrin was already in love with his soul and with his mind and it was much too late for her heart's desire. When he came knocking at her door with the news, however, he had kissed her then and there, shyly at first, unsure only because he had never done something quite like that, kiss a girl who was beautiful beyond her years and desirable because of her thoughts, not her body—though that was quite beautiful too.

Now they kissed again, and Corrin laughed again into his mouth, her nose pressed against his, and she felt his smile pressed unto her lips.

"Something funny, Corrin?" He asked and his mouth trailed a little further off to give her space to reply, leaving lines of kisses across her cheek and her cupid's bow, over the bridge of her nose and the line of her throat.

"Not entirely," she said, and her hands found a tighter grip into his hair, pulling him so she could fit her mouth squarely unto him. "Just happy. It's not a feeling I'm familiar with."

Leo's smile pressed further and further onto her and she laughed again, his kiss and her breath mingled and mixed, his heart and her soul caught up together into one. There was a beauty to it, the way she loved him—so entirely, so wholly. It was uncertainty, but in all ways, it was true.

Everything about him was true, so true; he made sense when nothing else did—and so, nothing really made sense without him.

His hand had just begun to feel across her shirt when the knock at the door startled them both.

They flew apart, hands pulling, hair flying, hearts racing, and Leo pressed a final kiss onto her mouth before he jumped up and into the chair near to the bed. He grabbed a book from the nightstand on his way there and pulled it open upon sitting down.

Corrin wasn't quite as fast, smoothing her hair and then just flopping onto the bed, her arms and legs spread out, long and gangly, her hair a halo across her pillows.

Xander opened the door to find Leo reading aloud to his older sister. He was, undoubtedly, unaware that either of them knew they were unrelated.

"And on the third day of the summer, the man—Ah, uh, Xander! Hello."

Corrin sat up on the bed, her eyes unfocused, and smiled at her eldest brother, her legs crossed as she shifted them over the bed. "Hi, Xander."

He raised an eyebrow at them both, but turned to face Corrin from the doorway. "It's time for your training session. I think this may be the one, little princess, if you prove yourself worthy."

"O—of course!" Corrin jumped up from the bed and her face was alight with real excitement. "I'll be right out."

Xander shut the door behind him and the knob clicked into place.

Instantly, Corrin was seated in Leo's lap, her legs slung over his waist, her eyes shining.

The prince jumped in surprise, but his hands found their place on her hips and he only welcomed her to him. "So this could be it," he said, and he tried to sound enthusiastic, for her, if nothing else, even if that was the last thing he was. "Your final test."

"Yes!" She was grinning, and it was contagious; Corrin was so naïve, so young in her thoughts, that it made it hard to resist anything she was feeling. "I could join you all at the castle now, if Father finds me worth it."

Leo nodded, but his mouth found a place at her neck and he held her tightly to him, her warmth infectious, the pump of her blood slow and familiar to his heart. "Won't you be careful, Cor?"

The softness to his voice made her hesitate for a moment. "Always."

Her mouth pressed a final marking to his lips before she moved, dragging herself from him and reaching for her sword.

He'd miss the way she felt against him.

* * *

The day that was supposed to be her happiest was quite possibly her worst, he realized, as he sat now in his chambers.

His head was in his knees, the moon the only thing lighting his way, and he sighed, hands gripped tighter in his hair.

Corrin was gone. The scum he had set free snatched her, assumedly, when Father had sent her out for her first mission and she was nowhere to be seen. Hoshido was the last option and of course, the last place they could check. But for now, there was no way across the border, nothing to help them across.

Father had only laughed when Leo mentioned it, that Corrin was likely there, unsure and lost, her hands trembling and heart confused. The prince had insisted they find a way across the border and fast, a way to break the spell that the queen had placed upon the land and immediately invade, if not to only take the princess back but to take new land.

Garon had shrugged him off with little more than a chuckle, waving him off, shaking his head. "I've already taken care of it," he said, and that was all.

Already taken care of it. What did that mean? Leo couldn't imagine anything was taken care of if Corrin wasn't safe at home. There was something strange and entirely corrupt about the entire thing, and yet…he couldn't face his father. No one could. There was nothing to be said and nothing to be done, so Leo retreated back to his room and sat with his head between his knees, trying to come up with something that could put his mind at peace.

But she was the only thing.

He loved her so, his princess, never a sister but a friend, a lover. She was the only place he could be at home, the only place he found it easy to smile, to laugh, and she was so beautiful, he often lost his breath without even touching her. And yet, it was pure awe, only awe, that filled her face when she saw him, as if he was the prize instead of the outrageously lucky winner.

Without her, he was lost, drowning—he couldn't name the feeling if he had tried, the feeling of being so surely lost and confused and unsure, but to have never of been more confident in his love for anything. His fear was dominant now, his fear for her, his fear of his father. He was stuck, trapped. She was gone.

Corrin was gone.

And Leo was lost.

* * *

The next time he saw her was on the battlefield.

Damn it, he had hoped she would never have to see one, the way the blood spilled and the flags fell; it was no place for her, the delicate girl, the one with the bright eyes and the endless hope and the wonder in her face. He didn't want her to lose it, any of it, herself or her beauty or her mind.

And he didn't want to lose her.

But she stood now between the two armies, the two nations who were so achingly different, so oddly and forsakenly strange, that she looked like an angel descending, caught in the light of the sun that shone from beyond Hoshido's capital.

She appeared unharmed, her skin just as pale as it had always been, her arms outstretched in uncertainty as she stood between Nohr and Hoshido.

Xander was speaking to her, proud atop his mount, and Leo wasn't listening, but he knew he was asking her to come home.

To come home. It was asking very little of her, to come home. Return to your prison, return to your family that visits twice a month. Come back to where the sun won't touch your skin and your eyes will dim eventually and your soul will be trapped.

But she could come back to him.

Leo knew she wasn't coming home.

He knew it, but it didn't mean he didn't hate everything for it.

He hated his father, his brother, his sisters—hated them all for leaving her like this, trapping her like this. He hated Nohr and Hoshido, hated war and pain and battle, hated knowledge and wisdom and blood.

He hated her for not choosing him.

Corrin turned her back on Nohr by drawing her sword, the same motion Leo had taught her not even a week ago. She stood back on her heels, balanced atop her toes, her legs poised, shoulders squared. She was achingly beautiful that way, so strong, so sure. Her weapon gleamed, pointed at Xander's heart.

It took her a moment, at least, to compose herself, and her hand shook.

"Xander."

Her voice, by the gods, he had missed it. The softness was still there, even as she betrayed everything she had ever known, and she was refusing to look at him, her eyes trained solely upon the commander of the troop.

Leo had never really been happier than he was in that moment that he was not the Crown Prince of Nohr.

It was irony at its finest, as the girl raised in the dark chose the light.

"Withdraw your troops."

Battle occurred after that and Leo wasn't sure what happened through most of it; he fought, but he didn't, his eyes trained mostly on her, his magic always aimed away from coming close to her. She seemed to be doing the same, avoiding him at any cost possible, heading straight for Xander. It was easier for her, he realized, to fight Xander, than it would ever be to fight him or Elise or Camilla. She could pretend it was practice.

She could pretend it wasn't real.

The ride home was a quiet one, a one of silent cries and hushed words and defeated lies. There was nothing else to it. Corrin had chosen them, her birth family; she had chosen them.

And more than anything, Leo wished he could understand.


	2. ii

_a/n: Ha! The closest anyone ever gets to fighting in this fic. also some more Leo-internal-torment. Gotta love him. Very early update, but oh well._

 _Don't forget to review and let me know if you're confused/see any mistakes;) this is the last "chapter" that's still in-game, so I used a lot game dialogue..._

* * *

 _ii._

 _[I didn't really see you again until the day I was ordered to kill you. I knew it was unavoidable, but it still hurt me…. There were only a few battles before that one, but they never really mattered; I never truly intended to kill you in those._

 _But this one I did.]_

Perhaps the hardest thing about losing Corrin was knowing that she was still there.

It was knowing that he could still have her, that she could be wrapped in his arms at night, they could be fighting together, side by side, never apart, if she had only chosen differently that day. They could have told their family, and in time, they would have accepted it. In another lifetime, maybe, it would have been enough, _he_ would have been enough for her. But not in this one.

Not in this one.

It was in the time that he wasn't helping Xander (plot for _her_ true kingdom's demise) or completing tedious and poorly thought-out missions assigned by his father (which often involved killing _her_ people) that Leo had to come to terms with how he really felt about Corrin.

He loved her, there was no doubt in that.

But war had never been a time for love, and Leo knew he had to accept that, especially if he valued his own life or Elise's or Camilla's. If his father ever caught the slightest thought that his youngest son would turn sides, Leo would be six feet under within the hour and Elise would be forced to take his place. Which meant he and Elise were completely and utterly screwed.

It was a war, a massive, all-out battle, but completely with himself, as Corrin had always made things easier, not harder. She had always made him laugh, made him smile—she was the only person who understood, who listened, and who, in most cases, would let him fall asleep beside her when his dreams were bad and he couldn't sleep.

She was never the elder sister, but the warmest smile, the best hug, the softest voice. He knew she had reasons for choosing against him, that she wouldn't if she didn't know that was the right path, but there was no way to know and no way to ask. Corrin was just so far.

Except in battle.

He had seen her a few times in battle, donning Hoshido armor and bearing the blade Yato in her left hand. Leo had no doubt that Corrin was the bringer of peace—Yato came of no surprise to him. But her determined face, her tactics that often mimicked something that he would have chosen; she was too familiar, too similar—she was pushing herself into every possible place she could and hurting him every time she did.

The attack on Camilla had been child's play; Leo could have taken her entire army then and there, rebels included, but he couldn't bring himself to. When he raised his scroll, he caught sight of her eyes watching him with such an intensity, such a longing, that he had to retreat. She wouldn't do any harm right then. He could stop her later. She was just _so_ heartbroken, her face broken without really showing it.

She looked like a kicked puppy and he hated it.

It was wrong and it was right, the light on her side and the darkness on his. In their time together, they had coexisted, melded into an eclipse of some kind, a darkness infused by the light, but time was up and dues were paid. The light had never belonged with the dark, had it?

Leo supposed that was what he deserved for hating her to begin with, for hating the affection she received from Xander and from Camilla. He figured that this was his fate, his true and absolutely shitty fate that had been forced unto him all because he had been jealous of a beautiful girl locked in a stone tower.

And in all cases, did it not make up for it that he ended up loving her too?

He fell under her spell too, the girl with the dragon blood, and he figured that was enough punishment.

Now he was forced to plot against her, sleep without her, be so far from her, and he was entirely sure _that_ was punishment enough.

But the fires in hell never really cool down.

The day Father ordered Leo to kill Corrin was the day the prince had to kill himself.

Maybe not in a physical way—though he had considered that—but a mental way, a soul sort of way; he couldn't kill her, so maybe he could put himself at ease. Change himself, change his beliefs. Find his solace in the darkness, and forget the light. Forget her.

Forget the way her hands feel across his skin, his face, threaded through his hair.

Forget the taste of her mouth, tea and strawberry and so soft, so gentle.

Forget the rise and fall of her chest when she sleeps, her arms tucked across his, nose pressed into his neck.

He couldn't kill her if he thought like that.

But he couldn't let her live on. She'd kill Father, tear down his people, tear down his entire nation and without hesitation. She had plainly sided and made it clear as to what she had to do find her peace. Nohr meant nothing to her, but it meant everything to him. It was his home, his people; the culture, the life, it was all his and nothing less. He couldn't lose it, not as prince, not to her.

Nohr was not her home and she had made her choice.

Leo had to make his.

His Father commanded him to kill her because no one else had managed to, her army too strong, their own tactics too weak. It was pathetic, really, how she was parading across Nohr like it was a playground, slaughtering entire masses of Faceless and, yes, Nohrian soldiers too.

It seemed as if his choice was made for him.

So he obeyed his father's commands and marched across Nohr to the swamps, where he knew he could get the upper hand in the fog and the mess. At night, too, and perhaps the darkness plus the fog would hide her face as he did what he had to. There was no other way, really. Not for him.

They came soon enough, stumbling right across his graveyard just as predictably as they could be, the entire mass of people that his love had found to follow her to her death. It was unsurprising, the amount of people that she had found to love her in his stead. Corrin was so lovable, there was no doubt that she could have the entire nation behind her if she only asked.

The Faceless he had summoned waited on his command, but he hesitated, unsure. It would be best if she saw him, surely. It would be best if she knew how she was going to die.

She wondered aloud as she always did and he answered her, childishly and foolishly, but answered nonetheless.

"Have you really lost your night eyes already, Sister? Hoshido has made you soft."

Leo called her Sister intentionally.

He knew she recognized him immediately, as her eyes widened, her face slacked. Corrin's shoulders tensed, but she reacted to his voice the same as she always had, willingly and openly, taking a step towards where she heard it from, her eyes searching. "Who's there?"

"Quite an attitude to take in the dark," he told her, but he mounted his steed and prepared to move forward, grasping his chosen weapon hard in his hands. His skin was turning colder, his heart beating faster, but he couldn't back away now. He had chosen Nohr. He had chosen the dark. "See for yourself."

When he emerged from the fog, she caught eyes with him instantly and he cursed under his breath, for his initial plan had to been to avoid her gaze at all costs. Her eyes had always been his undoing, their glossy, red shade a wonder to his own.

She watched him without caution, her sword drawn down by her side, and seemed almost at relief, like she knew he wouldn't hurt her. Corrin smiled, her eyes alight, and her face turned up with such a brightness, Leo had to grit his teeth to keep his control.

Don't think.

Don't feel.

Don't remember.

"The Nohrian law is blunt on the subject of traitors," he said, and his horse moved closer. "There is only one punishment."

Corrin flinched back like she had been stabbed, stumbling into the eldest prince from Hoshido, one who's name eluded Leo as he watched his love flinch from him. She trembled for a moment, but stood back to her feet, gripping Yato a bit tighter, her eyes clearly broken, but her teeth set.

Her knees were shaking.

She knew the punishment.

"The sentence is death."

Her siblings intervened at once, of course, and there was shouting and pointed fingers and cursed names. Leo told them all of his plans and his wish to kill them, his wish to put them back where they belong and replace what had been torn. "After all," he said tightly, rigidly, and it felt like acid in his teeth. "the sister that I once loved is dead."

He thought that would be what made her turn away from him.

But Corrin was watching him with a curious face, her head tilted, lip between her teeth. She was doubting him, yes, but she looked as if she _knew_ , like she knew how hard this was for. It shouldn't have been hard. He was the second prince of Nohr. He should have had no hesitation. But the way she watched him…it made his blood burn.

He was determined to prove himself so he continued on, the acid growing in the back of his throat. He was stronger than her. He could do this.

He had to.

"You Hoshidans think you're all a ray of light in this world, but you're hypocritical fools," he spat, gripping harder at his reins, knuckles paled white. "True power comes from a heart forged in darkness."

Corrin's face turned up in a slight smile then, and watched him carefully. She looked like she knew. Like she had caught him red-handed.

Her brother, the one with the long grey hair and the obnoxious yumi, continued on, throwing as many childish insults as he could in one go, but Leo shrugged him off, hitting with what best he could manage in word play before the water of the swamp took its place.

The Hoshidans began to burn beneath the power of the dark, but Corrin stood tall still, her hair framing her face, the same lazy smirk upon her face. Damn it, that girl. She knew all his tricks. And apparently, she was still tied to Nohr somehow.

He didn't want to think about what was holding her down in Nohr.

He knew it was him.

"No matter," he said heavily, twisting so he could return to his pedestal above his tireless creatures. "There won't be an escape today. In the dark forest where even the moon and the stars dare not shine, all sources of light shall be swallowed up in my darkness...because I will it so."

Corrin froze and her smirk dropped. She tilted her head again, but this time it was a look of sadness, not play.

He turned his back on her and the battle began.

* * *

They bested him somehow and damn it, was he confused.

He was beaten, completely and totally beaten, his Faceless gone, his own strength depleted. There was nothing left for him to do but fall at her feet and beg for her not to kill him. Leo had done all he could for his nation and for his people.

He fought for Nohr, and by the gods, did he lose everything by trying.

"Well," he said, and it was through gasps as he held a hand to his chest, staunching the blood of a light wound that was deeper than the rest. "Do what you must."

Corrin's face was grim and her eyes were dark. "No. Accept your defeat, Leo, and we can end this together."

"But we can't!" Leo gasped, and he grit his teeth again. He watched her with stars in his eyes, and she was still shining. Somehow she was still a light in the darkest place he could find. He had tried to extinguish her and she was only brighter than ever. "Don't you see? This can't ever end."

"It can—"

"No! Not until one of us is dead, Corrin."

Her light dimmed. She drooped under the weight of his words.

"I—I can't accept that. No, I won't. There was no need for us to be at war in the first pl—"

"You always have been naïve," he said, and he shook his head. "This is war! This is life or death! Only the strong can survive now. If…If Nohr bows down, we'll lose everything. Our land and our people, our culture, our legacy, our family…our entire lives."

Corrin grew much dimmer after that. "I—I…"

"Face it, darling. This was your choice."

"Why are you doing this?" She whispered, shrinking, shaking.

"Because I have to. I can't back down, Corrin, not even for you. Not even for the love that means the most to me. Nohr is counting on me. Xander, Camilla, Elise…They're all counting on me."

"Leo…"

"Don't," he said, and his voice had gone. "Please. I don't want to hear it. Not like that."

She tightened her shoulders and took a deep breath. In that moment, Corrin had to grow into herself and into the choice that fate had brought her to. She knew he was right. Only the strong survive wars.

"Okay, t-then don't move, Leo, o—or I'll have no choice."

"I've already made mine," he said softly.

Corrin shook her head, and he knew she was crying. She had to wipe her tears on the back of her arm, and if Leo could name the moment that was most painful for him, it was likely that one, the one where she was crying because of him and he couldn't take her into his arms unless it was to snap her neck.

"I won't give up on you," she told him and he knew she was true. "If you didn't love me, I'd already be dead six times over by now. I—I believe in our love, Leo, and I believe you won't kill me. I don't want to fight you—you or Camilla or Elise, not anymore.

"I…I'll always love you, Leo," she finished, and her eyes glistened. "That will never change."

And by then, how could he tell her no?

* * *

She asked him to join her, but _that_ he _did_ say no to.

"You're asking me to betray my father and Xander. And everyone else. I—I can't do that, Corrin. I've already betrayed you."

She understood him then, when he wouldn't take their side.

He, however, wouldn't fight against it.

In that case, he had to warn them about Xander, who, in all ways, had become more powerful than anything Leo had ever read about. He was strong, but also skilled in other things now, things of ancient and old power. It was something that was unheard of, and yet, sane in all ways it shouldn't be.

The warp book to Notre Sagesse was probably a flourish of damage that Leo could have avoided, but the look in Corrin's eyes wasn't one of games, not anymore. She was so determined now, so bright in her light of hope, she had to be right. What she was fighting for was peace, not death. She didn't mean to destroy Nohr, she meant to free it.

That had to mean something.

Her party settled in at the graveyard once he assured her there would be no more Faceless. Then they slipped off before she warped them all away, off into the trees and the dark to stand close and unseen.

He didn't even know where to begin.

"Corrin, I—"

"Stop," she said, and her voice was sad. "I don't want an apology. Your heart is good, Leo. You wouldn't do this unless you had absolutely no other way."

"Father, he—he threatened Elise, told me if I didn't kill you, he'd make her pay for it, and I couldn't—"

"And I don't blame you. There is nothing stronger than true love besides a brother's protection. I know that better than anyone."

He was quiet a moment. "Are you okay?"

"Honestly?" Corrin sighed, before her hand caught up in her hair, ruffling through it. It was her way of signaling how exhausted she was, a habit she had picked up when she was young and alone. "I don't know. I just want to be finished. The fighting isn't the worst of it. It's seeing the faces, especially the ones I grew up beside, and realizing they're only fighting because I willed it."

"I can't tell you you're wrong," he said. "But I can tell you I believe you're doing it right. So long as you leave Nohr's people alone, I—I won't stop you. Not again."

"You'll have to forgive yourself for that," she whispered.

"For what?"

"Trying to kill me." She gave him a hesitant smile.

"I can't," he sighed, his eyes dark. "I won't. Not ever."

Corrin shook her head. "You will. When this is all over and I'm safe in your arms, you will."

Leo looked at her, his eyes blown wide, mouth dropped, and his heart sped up. "You mean…"

"I'll come back to you," she said, and her face was confused. She tilted her head. "Did you ever doubt that I would?"

"Well I did just try to kill you…"

"To save Elise. Not just to kill me."

The prince scowled, but he gave in, gave in to her infectious nativity and hope, smiling just a bit at the way she was looking at him. He had missed her so, her skin and her face and her eyes. Looking at him like he belonged instead of like he was dying.

"I will come back to you," she promised, and her hand found his along his chest, her chin tilted up. "I'll always come back to you, Leo."

"Love is strange," he admitted, and she laughed, the first laugh in months that filled his ears, filled his soul. "Moments ago, you were threatening to kill me."

"But I love you still. War just screws everything up."

"War is an absolute bastard, Corrin."

She smiled. "But love is strong. That's how it survives."

Leo gave in, throwing all his caution to the wind and pulling her closer to him, catching her between his arms and resting his chin atop her head. He didn't say anything and she didn't need him to, the sound of his heart doing enough.

"I forgive you," she murmured, her cheek pressed to his heart. "Let's just…not do it again."

"I don't think I was ever really going to," he whispered. "To kill you. But it felt like it."

"Love does what it has to," she said. Corrin ran a hand across his chest and then pulled away to look him in the eye, quietly, just enough to get him to give himself away completely.

She didn't know it then, but he was already so lost.

He was lost in her, if it wasn't so obvious, the way he loved her was bearing down on him harder than he realized. He had just given in, given up; all of his work for Nohr gone, shattered like glass, heavy as rain but soft as silk. If his father found out, he was dead. If his brother found out, he was dead. If he ever really came to his senses…well, perhaps he would be alright.

It wasn't ever really his choice to begin with.

It had always been hers.

His fate would always follow hers.

Damn Fate.

Then they were quiet, lost in their own world if only for a bit, like a moment back in the fortress where they could pretend and forget, no death and no war and no worries. Corrin was the one who broke it.

"You're different now," she blurted, and her face was still bright—it obviously wasn't something she was worried too much about. "The way you walk and the way you stand. It's like you're not sure about anything. You've always been so sure…"

"Everything is so uncertain now," he told her. "I don't have you to go back to, in the fortress. You're what I had to cope. Now I have to cope _without_ you and that's harder than anything I had before."

She sighed and her breath was warm on his skin. "I can't apologize for leaving Nohr, Leo, but I can tell you I've never been sorrier than when I left you."

He held her tighter.

"Corrin?"

"Mhm?"

"How did you know?"

She raised an eyebrow.

"That I wasn't going to kill you."

"What you said in the beginning," she admitted. Corrin traced a pattern across his chest as she spoke, but she refused to look away from him, her fingers slowly tracing closer to the light stubble that crossed his chin. "About darkness being where true strength is forged. That gave you away. I should have just stopped the entire battle then."

"But—"

"You didn't mean that," she said. "I know because you told me once that I so often was your light you wouldn't know what to do in the dark. And the way you looked at me then, right before the battle…I knew you still loved me. That I was still your light. So there was no way you believed that."

Leo didn't have a response, so he pressed her closer to him and breathed in the smell of her hair.

And when he had to say goodbye, he kissed her once and looked her in the eye. "Come back to me," he told her, sternly, but she knew and she nodded.

Leo disappeared over the trees and was gone before she could tell him yes.


	3. iii

_a/n: ahh, so the war is over in this one. I've skipped ahead a bit, as Leo doesn't really see much of the endgame. He's still angsty, but at least he's with Corrin ;;_

 _As always, lemme know what you think! Onwards!_

* * *

 _iii._

 _[It was after the war that things settled in and settled down. I was there right before you faced Father and right before the death of my two closest friends. It's funny, the way that one love is sacrificed so that another sort of love may live on. I realized that when I asked you to marry me under a Hoshidan cherry tree.]_

It was sunny the day the Nohrian kingdom buried their prince and their princess.

Most Nohrians found it funny that it was actually sunny on a day of such sadness, but Leo was unsurprised. Elise would have wanted the sun and Xander would have done whatever it took to make her happy.

So the sun shone and the dirt was dug and their bodies were lowered, one frail one and one strong one, and the people sang around and around as Leo and Camilla watched. Flowers were laid and tears were wept, but as the soil was dropped back onto their souls, the people dispersed and the royalty was all that was left.

Corrin had her hand in Leo's, but she didn't speak. Her tears spoke for her, mostly, as they left trails on her cheeks and stuck to her chin. He knew she was as broken as he was—yet she had accepted this piece of the blame as her own. Nohr didn't blame her for the war, not when the truth was revealed and the acceptance was found in the dead king. But there were still prices to pay.

Elise and Xander were dead and that was all there was to it.

There was something akin to shock between the three remaining siblings, something similar to surprise, but mostly devastation and pain. It was one thing to speak their sacrifice; it was another to see their bodies lowered into the ground.

But the sun shone and the graves were sealed and it was done.

Camilla had passed on the crown, which didn't surprise Leo in the slightest; Camilla had never wanted the throne, and by all the rights of the law, Leo was the only one left to it. The thought of being the King of Nohr was daunting, to say the least, but he took it up and swallowed it down because he knew he had to.

It was exhilarating, but sad—a horrible, windstorm sort of sad that forced the prince to realize that his older brother was long gone. Growing up, he had never worried about being king; that was always going to be Xander's role. Always.

Leo left a carnation atop the stone marked for Elise, but for Xander, he felt compelled for something more. He had loved them both equally, but because of him, and because of her, they were gone and he had nothing to repay them with.

Over Xander's name etched into stone, Leo sank to his knees and spoke.

"I guess you've left the title to me," he started quietly, his hands pressed into the freshly packed soil. "I, of course, don't know what the hell to do with it. The one thing I'm not prepared for and you can't help but to leave me _that."_ He paused. "I won't ever be half the king you would have been, Xander, but I'll damn-well try. For you. And for Elise."

There were tears then, stained on his face, but he did not dry them.

"I—Thank you, Brother. For your dedication to Nohr a—and to us. Godspeed."

He didn't have anything else to say.

Corrin wiped his tears when he stood, and he let her, let her warm hands mark patterns across his skin. Fairly enough, she was what broke the world—and now she was holding his together. He let himself cry to her, but then he had to hold on. He was all Nohr had left now.

Xander would understand that.

Corrin herself wiped his tears and then took her own place over their graves, said her graces and cried her tears. She apologized, more times than he could count, and she promised and swore that she would make do on what they both had wanted—a peaceful world for Nohr to prosper. It seemed fit when the sunlight shone just a little bit brighter when she stood from her sorrowful stance.

Camilla had given her best, her wishes and her tears, and had graced Elise's stone with so many flowers, there was hardly any room to see the name. It would be harder for her to move on, to adjust; Elise had practically been her child, in ways that Leo could never understand. But she had turned down the crown and went on to find her new path in the life that she was given.

The three stood tall over their siblings' graves and watched as the sun set over the kingdom of Nohr.

* * *

His coronation was the day after Ryoma ( _that_ was his name) was crowned King of Hoshido.

It wasn't nearly as big a celebration, not in food or in games or in treats, but there was a festival and the people still celebrated for the reign of a king who wouldn't rule so sternly. Corrin had worn a blue dress and her light hair made her shine.

The days passed quickly now, as Leo had responsibilities and enough to learn to last him a lifetime. He spent many days in a room at the top of the castle where he could keep the windows open and study tactics and economy and law. Other days, he spent wandering amongst his people, following Corrin's lead and appeasing when it deemed polite.

Then there were days he traveled to Hoshido with his insufferably insatiable lover who refused to stay in one place now that she had all the freedom in the world. Corrin cheered up after the war, her face finding its brightness again, her beauty still unmatched. She never did find it in herself to forgive what she had caused, but the light returned to her and she reveled in what she had gained, even if she was never quite the same.

She found her place in the kingdoms, a strange but equal share that she held between her hands; she was, in all ways, the one who arranged the peace between them, who signed the treaties and arranged who got what and what went where. Ryoma was a peace-loving king, but he was sometimes a stingy one and for that, Corrin often knocked him upside the head, laughing, her face stern but her eyes bright. Hoshido provided Nohr with the food it needed during the winter, while Nohr gave Hoshido what materials and firewood it needed during its cold months. It was a truce, and though many expected it to be rocky, it was anything but, what with the Princess of Hoshido being the King of Nohr's leading advisor.

Camilla visited every so often on the arm of her new husband, and Silas was only too keen to visit his best friend again. It was to Corrin's surprise, of course, when she got a letter from both Silas and Camilla claiming they were getting married—though both of them left out they were being married to the other. In any case, Silas gave Camilla the family she had always wanted and for that, Leo was grateful.

Some days, Corrin left him and went to Hoshido alone, and those were the days that Leo struggled with the most; it was harder to want to live if she wasn't around. Xander and Elise still haunted him in the castle, and it was perhaps Elise's laugh that gave him the worst dreams. He would struggle in the night, tossing and turning, sweat broken across his skin and his hands clenched tightly together. It was a burden he would have to bear for the rest of his life, the pain of his kingdom and his siblings and his failure.

The people of Nohr were asking for funds and compensation, the royal court was all but destroyed, and if anything, the entire castle was going to crumble under the weight of the sky if it wasn't fixed before winter came. So many demands and requests and offers—everything and anything at once hit the new king, but he was smart and he found his way through. Some days were just bad. Even Corrin couldn't fix those.

But then again, there were the good days.

Leo let Corrin lead him through the town, her thin hand grasped onto his, and she pulled him through the throngs of people gathered beneath the sun that had emerged for the day. The marketplace was bustling, children were getting tanned, and there was something so achingly strange about it, the central plaza of Nohr being happy and bright, that Leo could have laughed.

If only Elise could see it now!

He supposed he shouldn't have been surprised by the people's affections for Corrin, though he was—she was labeled a traitor to the entire nation only a year ago, but now, they handed her flowers as she passed, waving and smiling, catching her attention any way they could. She claimed it was only because she walked with him that day, but he knew it was no one-time thing; she came home with bouquets every day.

Corrin led him to the fountain, the big, flourished one that had been built upon his brother's death, inscribed with something Leo had said in his coronation speech. _"_ _Let us bless those who left this world seeking only something better."_

She pulled him up onto the stones and he smiled, sitting down beside her and watching as she dropped a gold piece into the water. It shimmered beneath the reflections of the sun, but Corrin wasn't watching.

"What do you think?" She asked him, so proud of what she had accomplished. The fountain had been her idea, and with a little help from Niles and Ryoma, the feature had been brought up and was now spewing clear water up into the dusty sky. "Pretty cool, right? Everyone in town has said they loved it."

"Eh," Leo said, and he shrugged. "I suppose."

Corrin hit him. "Leo!"

He laughed at her, and, straightening out his collar, Leo nodded. "It's amazing. I'm sure it will boost morale and spirit in the town in no time."

"That sounded rehearsed."

"Damn it, you weren't supposed to know…"

She smacked him again this time, only this time, her hand caught onto the front of his collar without meaning to, and she dragged him backwards by the seams of his shirt.

Leo skidded a minute across the stone, and his eyes only had enough time to widen before he fell backwards into the fountain.

The townspeople were watching now, but he was beyond caring—a king could take a break every once in a while, right? He floundered for a moment, his dark and heavy clothes soaked through and through, heavier than even silver armor and dragging him down like a weight.

Leo scowled at Corrin, who was still sitting upon the stones of the fountain. She was, however, laughing so hard she was crying, tears streaming across her face, and had bent so she could clutch at her stomach. Without much flourish, he reached forward and yanked her in too, pulling her so she was flush against him in the middle of the fountain, right in front of all of his subjects who looked on at the scene with glimmering eyes. Their king was young yet, still, both in love and in peace, and had brought them happiness and full stomachs—that was more than anyone could say about King Garon, so they only laughed as his son splashed in the fountain.

Corrin was protesting, flailing her hands, but he was certain and he yanked her further, the water coming up to around his waist as he sat cross-legged behind the stones.

She stopped wiggling for a moment to look at him—and then they caught one look at each other and burst into laughter again, his hands around her waist, her arms around his neck. He kissed her there in front of the crowds of onlookers, his hands caught into her hair, and smiled—it was something Leo from pre-war, as he liked to call it, never would have done, his rational and determined self-incapable of such a public display of love and affection.

But he had lost her once, the world had nearly ended, his brother had died, his father had turned out to be some demented, controlled beast, and he had been crowned king and, really, at that damn point, he decided he very-well just did not care.

So he kissed her and she kissed him back and they fell further into the water, laughing still, as the onlookers either blushed, raised a brow, or applauded, most of which did the latter.

It was quite something, to see the people of Nohr applauding for their king as he laid with Corrin in the new fountain of the town.

Then again, it was really something that Nohr was still standing to begin with.

* * *

It still rained more than anything in Nohr, though.

Corrin didn't find it as depressing as she once had, as she had once had no option to go out and dance in it. Still, the rain set her in a very quiet mood, her voice much softer, her eyes a little duller. It was usually on the days that it rained that Elise had once visited her, so many years ago, though it wasn't really all that long ago.

Leo had finished up a meeting with his advisors and had returned to his room, only to find her sat at the windowpane, her legs folded across the window-seat. She stared out the window, but turned to face him when he shut the door.

"Quite the storm outside," he said casually, pausing at the door to take off his coat and shoes. Leo discarded them neatly at the front of the room and shook out his hair, his hand running through it in a restless sort of way, and left him in long trousers and a white button-up. "Niles came crying about it earlier, but you know him."

Corrin tilted her head, nodding, and her face turned thoughtful for a moment. "He's afraid of the lightning, right?"

"Fire in general, really," Leo answered as he crossed the room, his exhaustion clear in the way he walked. He was overworked, the poor king of Nohr, trying to find the money and the resources and the morale, though his people loved him and his advisors had turned the nation into a place where money was no longer scarce and the children were happy and full. "He's gotten a bit ridiculous about it."

His room was fit for a king, though he had actually refused it to begin with, the room itself three times as large as his last. A huge desk was pushed up against the wall, two-sided and lined with neat papers and sorted letters. Beside it stood his dresser, and then beyond that was a sitting area, three chairs and a table arranged for tea or such. The room itself kind of dipped into a circle of open space then before the bed was met on the opposite wall—a massive bed with dark sheets and a patterned quilt that Camilla had sent him not too long back.

Corrin sat at the window on the other side of the bed, and she welcomed him as he sat beside her, pulling the girl into his lap and leaning his head back against the wall. She ran her fingers across his chin, smoothing out the wrinkles of stress that were pushed out between his eyes as he furrowed his eyebrows, and her touch was soothing, like it had always been.

It was hard to remember where they were sometimes, that they were a king and a princess, not just a boy and a girl locked away in a tower. In the moments like this, with the rain spattering on the glass and her touch warm across his face, it was easy to lose himself—to lose the weight that clung to his shoulders.

His hands settled across her waist as she shifted, twisting so she could straddle over him, and he sighed in content, if just for a moment, lost with her.

Her breath was warm, her touch soft, and Corrin was content just to sit there with him, for that was proof enough that their love had survived all and had grown stronger still. Anything that had survived the war was precious to them, for many things had not; siblings and retainers and loves.

"Have you seen Nina recently?" Corrin's outburst was of no surprise; the new child was mostly what the princess talked about these days, ever since she had been put on babysitting duty every so often.

Even Leo smiled at the thought of his retainer's newborn daughter, the small girl being a tiny victory in a big world of doubt. At least some things were certain.

Nyx claimed that Niles drove her mad for the duration of the war, but as soon as the last battle was fought and won, they had been caught up in each other—to absolutely no one's surprise. He married her on the first day of the summer and Nina had been born eight months later in a frenzy of panic and lots of consoling from Leo to his retainer. Niles, believe it or not, had been the most nervous father during childbirth the castle had seen in decades.

"She's so small," Leo said, opening his eyes to see Corrin tracing patterns over the bridge of his nose. Her finger caught on the place where Xander had hit him with a training sword and broken his nose, but she continued tracing without asking about it. "I mean, I know they're supposed to be by statistics, but she's not even ten ounces!"

"She'll be spoiled rotten, that girl. The first child born in the new era…even Ryoma was fussing to see her in his last letter."

"Really? Is he not content with Shiro?" Leo teased her by poking out his tongue, his face a little sly, his eyes narrowed. He knew fully well why.

"You know he missed out on Shiro," she chided, pausing her path across his face to look him in the eye. "He's fully grown now. I'm an aunt to a seventeen-year-old and I'm only twenty!"

"A shame," he said. "It must be strange to miss so much of your child's life."

"It hurt him," Corrin said softly, and she resumed her patterns, this time a bit more hesitant. "Scarlet, too. To be parents and yet, miss the chance of parenting…"

They were quiet a moment. It was unsaid between them, though they both knew it to be true; they had said nothing of marriage, nor of being married, since the day she had returned to him. For what he held out on, Corrin was unsure, though she knew it to be of good reason, whatever it was. They were young-yet still—she had fought for her twenty years thus far and knew she had many more left in her.

Leo she was certain in, so there was no rush.

"Oh!" Corrin exclaimed, and she nearly jumped off of him; Leo had to catch her tightly and bring her back to him before she fell off the seat. "Speaking of which, Hinoka is expecting! Can you believe it? She's going to be such a wonderful mother, don't you think? I wonder how Jakob feels about it, though I'm just glad he's finally gotten past sending me three letters every day…"

"Mhm…"

Leo dozed off a bit, but his mind was lost in her words.

Corrin would be a wonderful mother, wouldn't she?

* * *

A particularly warm afternoon in Hoshido, they were sat together under a cherry blossom tree. Corrin liked to laugh at how funny Leo looked amongst all the color and the brightness, his starkly black outfit a little intense for the fading whites and pinks natural to the land. But she loved him there, and her siblings found it easy to have him, though it was strange for him to be a king and so casual amongst others. He refused to wear lighter clothes when he was out on 'formal business' because he wanted to represent Nohr, which, to all extremes, was nothing short of entertaining.

"Corrin," he had said, and she had turned up from watching the blossoms of the tree settle onto the stones that lined the path. "I never thought I'd be here doing this—well, I mean, maybe doing this but not _here_ —and I know you've been expecting it for a long few months, but Niles said I'm going to lose you if I don't do it soon and my book says—"

"Are you trying to ask me to marry you, Leo?"

He flushed red, his cheeks lighting up. "Maybe."

Corrin was quiet for a minute, as though this was of no surprise to her whatsoever as she contemplated his attempted marriage proposal while they sat together on a bench in Hoshido. She ran a hand across his, and then smiled. "You told me once that everything had become uncertain to you," she murmured, her hand caught against his. She brought it to press against her cheek and skimmed his knuckles across her skin, humming across the hardened skin of his calloused fingers. "Leo…would you let me be the one thing you never find uncertainty in?"

Leo nodded once and pulled her to kiss him.

She was half-sprawled across his lap and it was messy and unrefined, but it was real and true and in the world of war they had lived through, it was all that had survived, the only thing that had made it through. Maybe not unscathed, but still strong, if not stronger still.

They were broken, but they were rebuilt, and days of rain and of fountains and of teasing had brought them to a point where their souls may as well of been one, just meshed together and sewn with thread, tightened and holding stronger than ever. Leo loved her and he knew that was all there was to it, no matter how many times he had been ordered to kill her, nor how many times she had chosen against him; they were here now and both knew that there was nothing that they would ever want more than they wanted each other.

"I'd like to do it proper," he gasped as he pulled away from, breathless, a smile spread far across his face. He was shining like she hadn't seen him do since before the many months of bloodshed and hurt, smiling like he hadn't been completely and utterly sure that she would agree to be his wife, though she was completely and utterly lost to him anyways. "Hold on, let me try again."

Leo slid away from her grasp and he could only grin harder at the way she was watching him, her cheeks flushed and her face soft. Of course, her eyes were bright, but that came of no surprise; they were gleaming now with what he could only deem as tears.

He nearly fell onto one knee, and as he held her hand onto his, the petals of the tree fell around him and the sun shone onto him and even though he wore Nohrian black and purple, Leo felt as though the light had finally found him and he was free; the weight on his shoulders faltered as he held tighter onto her.

"Corrin," he breathed, and his words were literal breaths of air as he tried to tell her all that she was to him. "I never thought fate would bring us here, not as in Hoshido, but here as in the way I love you so fully, it hurts when you're gone. I don't want to be apart anymore, not ever, and I never want to have to choose against you when you are everything I have. Before the war, I was never uncertain, but after, it became harder for me to be.

"But you are all I'll ever want, even when I'm done breathing and the world has sealed me away. If I've ever been certain in anything, Corrin, it's you. I didn't ask you before because I was still uncertain—not in you, but in myself, to provide a home for you like my father didn't. But I'll certainly try if you'll do me the honor of becoming my wife."

He finished by pulling a ring from his coat, but he couldn't reach to put it on her hand before she had her arms around his neck, her body pressed against his. "Of course," she mumbled, and he knew she was crying. "Of course I will."

Leo pressed his mouth to her hair and breathed her in, just like he did all those months ago when he had finally found her again, and it was nostalgia, an old, weary sort of feeling that made him want to cry.

Corrin was his—it didn't matter that now she would be the Queen of Nohr and things between Hoshido would be the best they had ever been, nor did it matter that the people would likely shout their names in praise as they found a pair of rulers who would finally watch over them with a loving eye. It mattered that she was his and only his, forever, even when the sun set for the last time and he took his final breath, she was his.

And Leo was found.

* * *

a/n: poor Xander and Elise. They get so much angst from Leo. What a guy. Also, I'd like to point out that Leo is perhaps the biggest dork in history. Alright, cool.


	4. iv

a/n: hello! So, this one is the longest one yet, clocking in at about 8,483 words (dang, Leo.) It's only so long though because it leads up to the end! Gotta make it count. A ton of time passes in this chapter, so be sure to pay attention to the intervals!

Review and PM as you see fit :)

also, side note: there is some suggested baby-making in this "chapter". there's nothing actually explained, but still. I figured that should be a warning...? xD

* * *

iv.

 _[I always knew that you would be a great mother; you had grown up without the love of one, and because of it, you knew exactly what was needed. You were nervous, though, and I can't say I blame you—our children were quite the pair. Just when I thought I couldn't love anything more…]_

They were married twice, once in Nohr and once in Hoshido.

The first time was in Nohr, and neither of them counted that one—it was for appearance, and only that, as the King of Nohr couldn't very well not have a royal wedding for his people to celebrate. They welcomed Corrin with open arms, and instead of asking the king why he had chosen her, they asked only why he had taken so long; Corrin was no surprise to the people.

It was an extravagant thing, one that Camilla had gotten her hands a _ll over_ , with enough food to feed the entire nation and a ball that lasted well into the evening. The reception was beautiful, flowers as far as the eye could see, and it took everything in Corrin not to cry when she saw Elise's favorite flower lined up in rows down the aisle that she had to walk. She knew Camilla had done it on purpose, only confirming it when the bunches of the flower were tied together with something that looked oddly like the color of Xander's hair; it seemed as though all her siblings really were there.

The Hoshidan ones came too, Ryoma with enough guards around him to build a castle, and the other three close behind him. Hinoka and Sakura joined Camilla in helping with Corrin's hair; it was a joint effort and they got along nicely, almost like there hadn't been a war at all.

But the missing input from Elise was enough to keep Camilla a bit distant from the two.

Leo had figured that it would be Ryoma who walked the Hoshidan princess down the aisle, but he wasn't—instead, the second prince of Hoshido had his arm linked with Corrin's and he held her steady as she descended in a gown of gossamer white, though tinted with the colors that held true to Nohr. Her headpiece was purple.

Takumi let her go at the altar, which was obviously harder for him than anyone had expected. He held tight to Corrin's hand for a moment, and then smiled at her, his face a little sad, his eyes a little distant. It was like the two were remembering something, or perhaps something that would never be; either way, the prince pecked her cheek and then put her hand in Leo's.

She was breathtakingly beautiful, but that was nothing new, her eyes a startling bright against the white of her gown, her face tinted in a rosy pink. Corrin stood tall and proud in front of the hundreds and hundreds of people who stood and watched her as she climbed the stairs with her soon-to-be husband and found her place in the world. They were both smiling, the room so happy, their hearts both full.

The words were said, the vows were made, and they were officially considered married.

Corrin joked that they were finally allowed to sleep in the same room now, and Leo laughed because they had been doing that for past thirteen months—they were married just a little over a year from the day the war was declared over and Garon was dead—and hadn't planned on changing anything.

Except, perhaps, a few pre-sleep activities.

The second time they were married was the time they considered it real, the pair of them, the new King and Queen of Nohr. It was in Hoshido the day after their public wedding (which, they had not considered their wedding and thus _did_ go straight to sleep that night) and they were settled beneath the same blossom tree that Leo had proposed under.

Ryoma had said the words for them while their siblings stood off to the side; all of them, Sakura, Takumi, Hinoka, and Camilla, each smiling, each looking on with a new expression and a happiness that none could explain. Despite Takumi's initial protesting, the new husband and wife were made for one another. They moved in synch, like an orbit, one moved and the other adjusted around them.

Corrin's dress was different than the one she had worn the day before, much smaller and less fabric, the dress falling a little past the back of her knees and twirling around her like snow. She had a necklace tied around her neck and a stone that Leo knew kept her dragon hidden away appeared to be just a charm against her collarbone.

The petals fell around their faces as they kissed carefully, lightly, and effortlessly to seal their love.

That night, however, was a different story.

Leo pinned her against the bed before she could laugh, his formal clothes strayed, his hair ruffled, and Corrin was pulling at his neck and his hair and his shoulders before she even knew it herself. The kiss they shared then was different, separate from anything they had ever shared, and it was something that made his blood burn, made his skin warm.

Her hair was a splay around her face, fallen in careless waves across the pillows, and Corrin was smiling up at him; always smiling, her mouth finding his in a moment, her breath hot against his.

He tugged at the buttons of her dress and they popped, though he paid them no mind.

Corrin was so beautiful—nothing compared, not anything, her skin a pale shade, but flushed pink in every place he revealed it. Her hands never left his hair, instead pulling harder, finding a place at the nape of his neck and twisting there. She made sure he knew how much she loved him, how much she trusted him, and they fell away together into the night as the moon rose and the bed shook and they blazed into a flame that they knew was special to only them.

Leo fell asleep with her curled into his arm, her head laid softly across his chest, her left arm sprawled over his skin as she pulled him close to her. She was child-like, her long lashes casting shadows across her cheeks as she took deep breaths, her hair falling around her face. Her skin was bared to him and there was no need for cover; he ran a hand across her back and she curled further into the crook of his arm.

He had first watched her sleep, and it was the most comforting thing in the world to him, to watch her sleep without a second thought. Her nightmares were gone, for the night being, and she was content to sleep so soundly, her chest moved against his side every time she took a breath. Almost angel-like, soft and gentle, so careful, but so careless.

Beautiful.

His beautiful wife.

* * *

"Leo?"

The whisper came from the dark and Leo mumbled something under his breath before he shifted, twisting so he could lay on his side, his eyes reclosing. His wife was persistent, though, and he felt her snake around him, her legs wrapped around his hips, pressing her thinly-clothed self against his back.

He sighed, but there was a tilt to his mouth, a smug one as he listened for her breath. "Corrin?"

They had been married for three months then and sleeping beside her as her husband was much different than it had been when she was only there to soothe his nightmares. It reminded him of so long ago, when they had been children and kissing in the castle that had once been her prison, a time of innocence and happiness.

He felt that was how he lived now, a little more burdened than before, but happy; she did that to him, at least. Corrin made him happy.

She was, however, insatiable.

Her hand grazed across the bare skin of his back, making soft markings between his shoulder blades as she pressed her mouth to his shoulder, her breath hot. "Could we…?"

She didn't have to finish, as he already knew; Leo flipped over and trapped her beneath him, legs on either side of her, his mouth already pressing warm kisses to the underside of her jaw, hands searching for the snap to her chemise.

Corrin may have giggled, but he swallowed it up, pressing his warm, sleepy mouth over hers and capturing every breath she made as his. Leo left his kisses everywhere, soft lips pressed to all of her skin, careless and breathless, his heart full, his mind lost. She was his everything, after all. She was his all.

It was slow and sleepy, hearts content, kisses misplaced and gentle and unhurried. She moved with him, and he left searing kisses across her face, her shoulders, anything he could reach without shifting too much. She was peppered with soft presses, his careless kisses.

When she finally curled into his arms, he thanked the gods for such a wife and then fell into a dream-filled sleep.

* * *

Nine months later, Forrest was born.

The joy in the kingdom was overwhelming as the people celebrated the new prince, as they gathered in the streets and rejoiced. Forrest was loved more than his parents combined—before he was even born. His mother walked amongst the people, even as a queen, and they showed her respect, but more love to her unborn son. He was just a bump, but he was more loved than anything else. He was their future—he was their hope.

Corrin had told Leo by blurting it out at dinner one night.

"We're having a baby," she had said suddenly, out of nowhere as Leo was talking to Niles over the dinner table. They often had friends visiting, but Niles and Nyx were a constant sight at the royals' dinner table, as the king and queen lent them a room in the castle. Niles was still the king's retainer, after all.

Leo had paused completely, turning his head to face his wife of only a few months, before he had started laughing, giggling almost. He didn't believe her—no, of course not. She had just said something to get his attention, that was all.

"Leo," she called, and her face flushed. "We're actually having a baby."

"Oh," was all he had to say, his eyes widened, fork stuck between his hands as he sat for a moment, watching Corrin as thoughts raced through his head, undoubtedly calculations and statistics, the two things he often fell back on. When his thoughts clicked and he knew she was telling the truth, he had smiled at her, a full one, standing from his chair at the head of the table to lift her from her own. He held her tight for a moment, a hug of awe, of joy. A child in a world without war. A place he would want a child.

"A child," he had whispered in awe, surprised, no doubt. "Our child."

Corrin had nodded happily then, almost proudly, and he had held her closer, as if he could keep the both of them there.

Throughout the next few months, Leo was a bit understanding in the aches and the whines and the demands of his wife, often ending the night by rubbing his fingers into her aching skin, as he had read all the books the library had on pregnancy and knew the symptoms were not pleasant.

The day Forrest was born was chaos.

Maids were yelling, Corrin was screaming, and Leo, well—he was just sat in shock, his eyes wide, as his wife laid across a bed in the center of the castle that had been specially prepped for the day. He knew exactly what needed to be done, he had done the calculations and the studies and the reading, but he couldn't move, not when he knew that something he had _made_ was being brought into the world. He just shouted commands and demands and questions at the maids, wanting to know every detail of what was happening and how far along she was and he was eventually kicked out of the room until Corrin was finished because he was only stressing her out.

It was said that he topped even Niles for most-nervous father.

Chaos, totally and utterly, yes, but when Corrin stopped crying and the mess had been cleaned, there was a child in her arms that was the most precious thing either of them had seen. Leo came back into a room of silence, but of light and of warmth. His wife looked at him with shining eyes.

Forrest was less than seven ounces, if the maids knew what they were talking about, and had eyes the size of saucers and a tuft of hair that was so obviously his mother's. He was small, smaller than even Nina had been, and was so pale, one of the maids claimed he looked a little like a ghost, what with his pale skin and eyes.

But Leo was lost to him, just as he had been lost to his mother, the little boy with beautiful eyes and a small nose that looked exactly like his own. It was more entrancing to know that he had _created_ this; the little bundle of warmth was from his love and not for personal gain, like his own mother had used him. He swore then that his son would be raised in a happy home, one where his wide eyes could be curious and could be happy, no matter what they found comfort in.

Corrin pulled Leo so their cheeks were pressed together, her face dripping sweat, but her eyes brimmed with pride and with joy as she sat with her husband and looked upon the beauty they had brought about, together. Their son cooed up at them, shaking his small, fragile fingers, and there was nothing either of them could do as the boy stole their hearts right out from under their noses.

* * *

The entire kingdom wanted to see him, of course, the newest member of the Nohrian family—he was tiny and small, but a strong leader already, his rounded face capturing his entire nation without meaning to.

His aunts and uncles came too, and Hinoka's first son, Dwyer, found it fun to hold onto Forrest's hand and then giggle when the baby tried to grasp, instinctively. The boy was a treasure, a royal baby that would take to the throne, and would rule the nation as he saw fit. It was exciting, the prospect, the what if's. It was up to him how Nohr continued into the future.

"S-so beautiful…" Sakura said as she held him, her arms formed tightly around him. She watched him with adoring eyes, just as she watched her other nephew, who was a bit jealous his aunt wasn't holding him and had begun to wail.

"He will make a strong king," Ryoma had told them both, as if they had needed his reassurance. The boy giggled at the sight of his uncle and was instantly enamored by all of his hair—Forrest loved to yank hair, something the King of Hoshido learned the hard way.

Leo stood proud the entire time, his arm wrapped around Corrin's waist, his face smug as the royals treasured his child as he knew he deserved. The baby boy wrapped in a purple blanket, his small face delicate and pink, the tuft of hair on his head already growing.

Forrest was proof that love really did survive everything, even hateful fathers and bloodthirsty wars and shameful thoughts. He was nothing short of their happiness, every last bit of it, poured into one, tiny body that cooed at them constantly, giggling and smiling like his parents did. The King of Nohr had never been happier than he was right then, his son gurgling in happiness, his wife watching adoringly on his arm, and the thought that his kingdom had lost so much, but had somehow found its way back.

Such happy thoughts had not been thought by Nohrian royalty in a long time.

* * *

Forrest wasn't picky in the slightest in his playthings, but his father was.

Nina was his usual companion, though she surpassed him by nearly a year of age, and liked to mess with all the toys the prince was showered with. That, and the uncanny ability she had to wander off to wherever her father had gone usually led her straight to the young boy, seeing as Niles was often found with Leo.

Dwyer, too, was a companion when he could be spared, though he was a bit too young to make the journey on his mother's Pegasus too often. He was closer to the boy's age and the two liked to giggle at each other, holding fists together, cooing and crying and hiccupping.

Though Leo claimed the boy was hardly a year old and couldn't possibly have a favorite playmate, Corrin always said Sophie was his best friend. She thought it was cute, that the daughter of her best friend would be so close to her own son—as cousins, they shared a bond that neither could really understand. They did seem to get on well, though, as Sophie with her shock of purple hair only dwarfed the boy by a few months in age, trailing behind by three full sets of the moon, the three months not doing much to stop their ambition.

"It's cute," Corrin told her husband pointedly as Forrest picked up a doll, flailing it around and then pulling it to his chest as Sophie attempted to yank it from his grasp. The boy preferred the dolls over the play-sword his father had tried to thrust upon him since the day he had been born, which bothered Leo to no end, of course, the stubborn king. "He's just used to it. Sophie and Nina love the dolls, so he does, too. It's natural."

"It's unmanly," Leo grunted, crossing his arms and eyeing his son as the boy waved the doll again, laughing. He shook his head.

"He's only one!"

"He's the crown prince of Nohr, Corrin. Xander played with real swords by the time he was one."

"Ha. You're hilarious."

Leo rolled his eyes, but smiled nonetheless, catching his wife around the middle as she tried to walk away. "Sorry. I guess he can keep the doll a _little_ longer."

Corrin smirked in triumph as her son twirled the doll a little longer, his face upturned to her as she went to lift him into her arms. "You're welcome," she said to Forrest, and he grinned at her, eyes wide as ever.

He'd thank her later.

* * *

When the prince turned five, the palace held a huge party for him, the biggest celebration the kingdom had seen since the boy's birth.

Leo was unnerved by it all, just a little, as his son walked out into the party in a dress that fell past his knees. He knew the boy was too young to understand that dresses were for the girls, but Forrest had grown up with two girls and found it entirely unfair that they got to wear the pretty things and he didn't.

When Leo had gone to dress the boy in a tiny set of trousers and a small shirt, the boy had cried and wailed until his mother had come running in, her skirts flailing around her ankles as she bolted into the room, her face worried beyond belief. Forrest ran to her and clung to her leg, sniffling, as his father sighed.

"Forrest, just hear me out, kiddo—"

" _Noooo!_ " He sobbed relentlessly into his mother's skirts. "I—I wanna wear t—the pretty dress, Daddy!"

"But dresses aren't for—"

"Pwe—ease," Forrest cried, a hiccup cutting him off as he sniveled miserably, his skinny arms wrapped around Corrin's leg, holding tightly and refusing to let go. "Daddy…"

Leo sighed again and opened his mouth to try again, but his wife cut him off, leaning down to pick the prince up and hold him on her hip.

Corrin had aged a bit, her face a little wiser, her body a little sturdier. She had smile lines now, but her eyes still twinkled like the stars and she still fought fiercely for anything she believed she had to.

Her husband knew the look in her eyes as she held her son to her, the weeping boy clung around her neck, and she scowled at Leo, shaking her head.

The king groaned, but he traded the pants in his hands for two dresses that had been laid over the side of the boy's bed. He couldn't win against her and Forrest, not both of them together. It wasn't fair when they teamed up against him. "C'mere, son. You don't want to be late."

Forrest peeked his head out from his mother's shoulder to see Leo holding the two dress that he had picked out earlier and his face lit up in glee. He ran from Corrin to his father's arms, smiling, and Leo caught him, pressing a hand around the boy's head. His hair had come in long, but he refused to cut it, and it was so-like Corrin's, Leo swore up and down he'd believe the kid wasn't even his if not for his eyes, an exact replica of Leo's, only wider and with longer lashes.

"T-thanks, Daddy."

Leo held him for a minute, the skinny prince with lanky arms and long hair, and he smiled, nodding his head for a moment before giving the kid a push and pulling the dresses out from under his arm. "So…the red one or the blue one?"

"Rwed one. Looks like Mommy."

"Hm?"

The boy thought for a minute, tapping his chin with his finger (and missing the mark entirely, tapping at his cheek instead), before closing his eyes and then tapping over his eyelid with his index. "These," Forrest told his father, very solemnly, nodding. "Rwed these."

"Her eyes, you mean."

"Rwed eyes!" He exclaimed, excited. "Ywes. Mommy's eyes."

"But yours aren't red," Leo told him, as if it was bad news.

Forrest had to think about it again. "It's okay," he said. "Mine lwook like Daddy's. Pwetty anyways."

Leo grinned at that, the idea that his son was proud to have his eyes, and though he had been embarrassed before, the man flushed and alit with pride. He helped his son into the red dress that looked like his mother's eyes without a second thought.

* * *

Leo groaned as he felt the familiar trail of hands against his back, Corrin's touch light, her kisses feather-like against his skin.

"You're a crazy woman…" he said as she climbed over him, her hands caught across his face, catching on the light scratch of his chin. His eyes were sleepy, but the way he looked at her gave her permission to leave touches across his shoulders, across his chest. "Thank the gods you're mine."

Corrin kissed him and they fell silent.

* * *

Forrest was smart.

Leo knew he would be, but when the boy started his training in the classroom, Forrest only proved his father right, excelling in mathematics and science without a thought. He struggled a bit more with history and grammar, but his mother helped him with those and the prince grew into his studies. He didn't love it like his father did, the math and science, but he was still the best at it, his mind just clinked with it, like gears in a frame, a clock ticking inside his head.

He was definitely smart enough to know that his parents were keeping something big from him.

When his mother began to get bigger, her stomach swollen up and her face flushed more often than not, Leo knew the boy would ask questions, likely problematic questions or statistical questions like his father would have asked.

He, however, did not expect the boy to ask her at the dining table, as if it were completely casual. "Mommy?" Forrest had called, his voice small, but certain.

Corrin had smiled at him from across the table. "Hm?"

"How come you swallowed a whole watermelon?"

The entire table had burst into laughter and Leo chuckled at his son as the boy's eyebrows furrowed and he sat his face into his hands, leaning his elbows onto the table. It seemed like he had known what he was talking about, and that his mother eating a whole watermelon was what his family had hidden from him.

They laughed, but later that night, Leo took him aside and explained that he was going to have a brother or a sister, just like his father has Aunt Camilla and his mother has all of her brothers and sisters in Hoshido. Forrest was excited beyond belief, asking if it'd be a boy or a girl and when he or she would be here. It was a moment of pride for Leo, to tell his son that they were expecting again.

Later that night, Forrest poked his head into the king and queen's room so many times, Leo picked him up, told him for the seventh time that the baby was not here yet, and then let the boy fall asleep in the space beside him.

* * *

Kana was born on a cold, winter's morning and was the precise opposite of his brother.

He cried at the top of his lungs from the moment he entered the world (this time Leo had stuck around) and startled his parents to no end, his high-pitched wailing catching everyone off guard and about shattering the large window in the room. The boy was larger than his brother had been, but he was just as warm and nearly as beautiful, though his eyes were a startling shade of red and the puff of hair atop his head looked exactly like Leo's.

Leo held him in a swaddled mess of blankets, cooing at his newborn son with a sense of happiness, an overwhelming sense, just the same as he had felt when he had held Forrest for the first time. Kana was asleep now, his little body tired out from all of the screaming, his tiny hands curled into fists beside his face. He was puffy and red, but he was another beauty to the royal family.

When he was introduced to Forrest, the young prince had giggled, hiding shyly behind his father for a moment before going to his mother's side, reaching to touch his brother's wrinkled arm.

"He's so small!" Forrest had whispered, his thumb stuck into his mouth and a fistful of his dress in the other hand. Leo couldn't get the prince out of either phase and had given up trying, the poor king, and had allowed his son a few sewing lessons with the maids, so long as he kept up with his studies. "So teensy…"

"Isn't he?" Corrin asked, voice quiet, and she smiled at both of her sons, Forrest touching his brother's hands carefully, surprised to find them warm and wrinkled beneath his touch. "He'll get bigger though, darling."

"I know," the boy said, and he puffed his chest out a little. He had known that.

Leo scruffed at his son's hair, but said nothing, only watching as his family hung close to each other, wrapped up in each other's warmth.

So this was what Xander had sacrificed himself for.

Leo looked to the window, a smile on his face, and nodded.

 _Thank you, Brother_ , he thought, his eyes shut, as he gripped his son's hand, _for this wonderful life you have given me._

The sun shone a little brighter as the family huddled closer around their newest arrival.

* * *

Kana did grow, after all, and Forrest loved him.

As his eldest son grew, Leo realized more and more that he had no interest in the throne. The boy drifted towards the maids more than anything, his hands deft and nimble, but not on a training field. He was the best sewer the castle had, much to his father's dismay, and began to sew his own clothes, as well as his mother's dresses and bows.

He held no interest in battle or tactic or strategy, all the things that Leo himself had grown up upon, and it left the king at a bit of a loss for what he could teach his son. His father had only ever taught him that, to be a man and to fight with no mercy, and there was little from that Leo could use on his son. He realized, as his sons grew, that he really didn't know how to be a father.

Kana was more energetic than his brother, and by the gods, Leo had no idea how that was even possible. As soon as the boy could toddle, he was into everything, from candles to papers to the wax for sealing letters. He couldn't keep out of anything and his parents really couldn't _keep_ him out of anything or _in_ anything, for that matter. He was constantly going, toddling and giggling and moving, following his father like a shadow. When he wasn't at his father's heels, he was yipping at his brother's, poking and asking as many questions as he could possibly ask within a day.

Midori was the only other child born to someone of his parents' status that was around Kana's age, her father being Corrin's retainer, and she often hung around the youngest prince with wide eyes, the pair of them giggling and dancing together, quickly becoming the boy's best friend in his short years spent in the castle. Kaze usually had an eye on the both of them.

The six-year age gap between the two brothers held no difference to the either of them, as Forrest played with Kana from the day the boy was born. Twelve years after the end of the war, the boys grew up in a home of peace, where they could leave the castle whenever they wished (so long as a retainer followed close behind, of course) and explore and play. They grew close, as Forrest kept an eye on the boy when his parents were off, and Kana looked up to him like nothing else. Except, perhaps, his father.

"Why dwoes the swky cwky, Forrest?" Kana had asked him one afternoon as the two sat in their father's room, the youngest sprawled out across his chair.

Forrest was sitting neatly in a different chair with a needle and thread between his fingers. "The sky cries?"

"Like now," Kana said, pointing to the window, and he watched as the rain spattered the windowpane, droplets hanging onto the glass for a few precious seconds before sliding past and down onto the lower floors. "It cwys."

"You mean the rain," Forrest realized, turning to face his brother as he began his questions. "Well, it's mostly because of evaporation and transpiration, since the water comes out of the bodies of water and the plants and..."

Kana blinked at him for a moment.

His brother sighed. Kana was only five, after all. Perhaps the water cycle was a little too advanced.

"Mother told me once that it was because of the Great War," he said, and this time his hands shifted from his sewing to gesture, telling the story with his hands. It was certainly something Corrin would have done, shake her hands around as she told of something that she had heard. "You know the painting of the guy who looks sort of like Father in the Grand Hallway? The one that never got hung?" He paused to be sure Kana got it all, then continued when his brother nodded. "He died in the Great War and became a great hero, but sometimes, he misses us and he cries."

"Hwow come he mwisses us?"

"He was Father's brother, once," Forrest said, nodding. His face was a little smug, prideful in his knowledge. "He misses us like Aunt Camilla or Uncle Takumi do."

Kana's eyebrows shot up, but he didn't say anything, his face furrowing back into a thoughtful expression. He then turned to Leo, who had been listening in from his desk as he wrote a letter of envoy, his mind obviously elsewhere as he listened in on his sons. He contemplated for another minute and then turned back to his brother. "Were twey clowse bwothers?"

"I'd assume so. He _has_ been crying for the past two days."

"Like, as clowse as us?"

"Yeah. Just like us."

Kana beamed at his brother, happy in his response, and nodded his head excitedly. "Yeah, we're jwust like Daddy and his bwother!"

Leo smiled a bit at his son's words, and took a peek out the window too, reminiscing.

Xander would be proud of them too.

* * *

Leo grew, too, his age catching him up a bit as he raised his sons to train and to get stronger still. He was coming up on his thirty-third birthday, and Corrin's thirty-fifth had just passed. They were getting older, wiser; he was a king of experience now, and his portrait hung in the hallway of the many kings of the past.

There was never any doubt between them though, not between the king and queen, the two whom the entire kingdom looked up unto. Not even when there was a riot in one town because they felt Hoshido was too close, or when a massive storm wiped out many of the Nohrian supplies and Leo had to spend weeks trying to repair it, his advisors working tirelessly at his side.

Forrest grew and grew; before Leo could blink, the boy was fifteen, his hair down to his waist, a beautiful, intricate gown draped across his lean form. He was beautiful, there was no denying that, as he rivaled even the likes of Nina, who was a beauty in herself. His hair curled just as Elise's once had and Leo regretted that she never got to meet his son—he figured she would have treasured him, the boy with a beautiful face and the impeccable fashion sense. He was a prince, though, through and through, his etiquette far surpassing even Leo's, who had worked his whole life to become a fit king.

Kana wasn't far behind him, sprouting up in his nine years of life. He did wear pants, to Leo's relief, and had cut his hair up and out, must like Leo did himself. He trained hard at magic, though his strong suit had always been the small, wooden sword his father had left over from Forrest's failed attempts at pretending he was interested. The boy threw himself into everything, especially making his mother happy and his father proud, and was often found beside his brother, complimenting his sewing or having him check another piece of his math homework. Kana worked the hardest, but he certainly wasn't as natural as Forrest was when he came to things like that.

And when Leo looked out over them, over his two boys and his happy wife, he couldn't think of anywhere he'd rather be, couldn't thank the gods enough for the safety they had granted them. Perhaps, he figured, if only Corrin had chosen Nohr instead of Hoshido, he would be a teensy bit more content, though he doubted it mattered now; he was safe, his sons were safe, and Corrin was safe.

He had never loved so much in his life.

* * *

Forrest confronted his father a few days after his sixteenth birthday, his face tear-streaked and his eyes red, with his sewing kit in hand, a few bits of fabric hanging out of the basket. "You wish I was different," the boy accused, and it was rough, but he didn't cry. "You wish I was more like you."

"Ah—wha—?" Leo was more bewildered than anything, shaking out his hair as he sat in the chair he had settled in the corner of his room beside the window. It was where he and Corrin liked to sit sometimes, just the two of them, a few moments peace. "Forrest, what—"

"Don't lie," Forrest said, shaking his head. His hair fell around his face when he did so. "I know you do. I—I know I don't dress like Dwyer or Kiragi, b—but I'm still a real prince, Father!"

Leo paused, the letter he was writing left splayed across his lap, as he looked at his son, standing in front of him in the nicest dress Leo had had ever seen, the design so intricate and detailed, even the maids would have struggled with it. "I never said you weren't."

"You may as well have," the prince scoffed. He pressed his hair back behind his ear, but it curled viciously out above his forehead, falling back into its place. "I mean, I know you favor Kana, but—"

"Forrest," Leo interrupted, and he sighed, placing his letter to the side and standing up to face his son. The boy reached his height now and he had to look him in the eye, stretching out his back as he went. "I know I haven't been the most supportive father," he acknowledged, grimacing, "but the truth is, you still make me proud, son. I was raised in a world where all people were supposed to be the same. That's just how my father taught me. But you have the chance to be as you are, and I guess I need to support you, no matter what.

"And stop your foolishness with the Kana-business," the king said, laughing. "Kana is my son, just the same as you. The both of you and your mother mean the entire world to me, Forrest. Don't you know that by now?"

The prince was silent, his sewing kit still grasped tightly in his hands. He shifted for a moment, biting at his lip, just as his mother did, and then sighed, wiping away the tears that had soaked across his cheeks. "I—I'm sorry, Father. I didn't mean to be harsh."

"You don't need to apologize. I should have noticed how you felt far before now. If sewing is what makes you happy, then you must pursue it. I only want what will make you as happy as I have become."

Forrest smiled at his father's words, and Leo swore he saw the spark that often found its way to Corrin's eyes in the way his son was looking at him. He was smiling so hard that he looked near to bursting.

Leo couldn't help but to grin a bit, too.

"Thank you, Father…I—I know I'm not the prince you expected, but I…"

"You're perfect the way you are, Forrest. Kind, compassionate, smart…those are the things I always wanted in a son. Not a matter of clothes or hair. You are more than capable of taking to the throne, I have no doubt of that."

Forrest's eyes grew wide, and in that moment, Leo remembered the first time he saw his son's eyes, the way he looked up at him with such a look of hope and curiosity, the strong feeling of happiness and of pride that welled up in his chest. It returned to him now and he moved to hug him, if only for a moment, before pulling back, patting the boy on the back.

"You will always be enough, son."

* * *

Kana was a disastrous child, the tyke, his pointed hair and free-will leading him into all sorts of trouble.

It was his first training session with his father, his first real one, since he had turned ten and was deemed "trainable in real weapons" by his mother, despite her protesting and hope that he would never need it. Forrest had never been interested, so Corrin had never had reason to worry.

But now…

Kana lashed out at his father with the sword, rolling a bit to catch him around the side, but Leo was still quick, even up into his age, and he twisted out of the way, catching the boy off guard.

They teased for a bit, poking back and forth, swords never cutting, but rattling around quite a bit on the field. Sophie was waiting her turn from the sidelines, Silas watching happily from her side, and Camilla stood fretting with Corrin over Kana's inexperience and eagerness to train to begin with.

Leo ended up knocking the boy's sword away from him and then tackling him to the ground, laughing, and Kana shouted as his father resorted to tickling, wrestling his son across the training field.

Corrin laughed.

They all laughed.

The King of Nohr tumbled across the dirt with his youngest son, scolding.

"You must hold your sword out a bit further," he said as Kana tried to dodge a round of tickles, rolling out of the way. "Or perhaps, an angle miscalculation? Such a silly mistake."

"Daaaaaaad…." Kana laughed again.

Leo trapped him at last, then tickled him until the boy couldn't breathe he was laughing so hard, his face turned red, his eyes shut. "Dad! Quit it!"

"Best fight me off then, son," Leo commanded, smiling, his hands merciless.

"Should I intervene? They look so cute…" Corrin giggled at the two as she looked on, a smile spread heavily across her face.

Forrest sighed, but said nothing, only watched in a bit of amusement from his place beside Sophie, who watched with interest and listened in on what Leo was actually commanding. Some of his advice was valid, at least.

Kana finally escaped, tripping out from beneath his father and streaking across the field, screaming, his small legs carrying him far away from the king who watched with mussed hair and a tired grin. He had to straighten his back out when he stood.

Leo smiled at his youngest son as he shouted from behind an archery target, sticking his tongue out and waving, taunting a bit, as in the boy's nature. He let him be, though, and turned to face his wife, who was shaking her head and laughing at them both. "Childish," Leo said at once, straightening himself into the proper king form, his shoulders squared. He was smiling still, though, his face flushed. "How silly."

His hair had begun to grey a bit, at the edges, as many of Nohr's kings had done as they faced the pressures of a kingdom. The lines across his forehead appeared more frequently now, but he was still youthful in the eyes and in the face, the way he stood and walked, his speech and his command. Certainly in the way he looked at his wife, what with adoringly wide eyes and a content sparkle.

He was torn away from Corrin's beautiful grin to a scream, Kana's scream, and whipped his head around to see his son trapped under the archery unit, his leg caught beneath the heavy weight.

Leo raced across the field, but he was too late, the boy was already yelling and shouting beyond belief, his face terrified, his arms flailing. His vision blurred as he approached his son, but Kana wasn't moving anymore, his arms stilled. It wasn't until he grew closer, did Leo notice the trembling of his arms, of his legs….

Kana glowed in a thick, white light and then grew into a shadow of darkness.

Through the haze of worry, Leo heard Corrin yelling at him to back up, to move out of there, and he reluctantly agreed, his legs stumbling backwards, his mind screaming danger, but his heart screaming to help.

In place of the archery unit and his trapped son, there was a dragon, one who knocked its head back and roared like a streak of magic, shooting a bit of flame into the air before settling its feet onto the ground. The dragon ducked its head for a moment to gain balance and then trampled some more of the training grounds, shaking its head onto anything it could find.

Corrin had run up behind Leo, and he looked to her for explanation, eyes widened, trembling.

"Oh damn," she mumbled, clenching her hands together as she watched her son blaze the grass, his control completely ruptured. Corrin turned to Leo, only to bite at her lip before she could speak. "He's inherited my power, it seems," she said, and it was almost apologetic, her face worn. "I didn't think we'd ever find out because there's nothing to fight about, but…"

"How do we stop him?" Leo's voice shook a bit. It had been a long time since the King of Nohr had been truly afraid like he was right then, fearing for his both his son's sanity and his life.

"My dragonstone," she replied immediately, her hand at her neck. Her dragonstone had hung from her neck since the day Azura had given it to her all those years ago—it reminded her both of the girl she had lost and the control she had gained. It was more of a treasure now than anything, as Corrin no longer needed to control the beast that had once raged within her blood and in her soul. The stone was important to her, to remember that, if nothing else.

She didn't hesitate to tear it from her neck in order to save her son.

The stone was small and hard in her hand and she rushed forward, her hand outstretched, as Kana roared again, his claws raised up to the air as he shook the ground. Corrin hurried forward, and immediately, her voice rose and she sang as best she could remember.

 _"_ _You are the ocean's grey waves,"_ she sang softly, and it never had the effect that Azura's did that day—it, of course, was never her power to wield. But the song was still comfort, as it had once been what she had sang to her son's before they had drifted to sleep, and she continued on without hesitation, her voice raising. _"_ _Destined to seek life beyond the shore, just out of reach…"_

Another voice, a notably lower one, joined in beside his mother's as Forrest stepped up, his sewing set aside and his foot stepped forward. He rushed to Corrin's side to sing beside her, matching her melody and finding her harmony as she kept on. _"_ _Yet the waters ever change, flowing like time, the path is yours to climb…"_

Kana roared, his attention caught by his brother and his mother, but it was enough for Corrin; she rushed forward and pressed her hand to his front leg, her eyes shut instantly. She held tight to him with one hand and tight to the dragonstone in the other, her arms strained, but her heart fast. The stone glowed beneath her touch and she pulled Kana's rage into the small capsule in her hands.

He diminished as she welcomed him back, the dragon shrinking into the shape of a ten-year-old boy. Kana blinked at first, only then realizing he had nearly killed his mother, if not his brother too. He rushed into his mother's arms at first sight, catching her around the neck and sobbing, his entire body trembling.

"Mommy, I—"

"I'll explain later," she said softly, stroking his hair, soothing against his back as he clung to her as he did when he was much younger. "There is much to know, little one." Corrin glanced at the stone in her hands one last time before she sighed and handed it to her son, his small hand outstretched for it. "This is yours now. Keep it safe, Kana. It will help you…think, next time. When you lose control."

He nodded, his face solemn, and she pulled him to her again, rocking his small body against hers. Leo approached them both with a neutral face, his eyes dark. He patted Forrest on the back as he passed, and then dropped to help his wife and son off the ground.

Kana looked up at him with shimmering eyes, his lip trembling.

Leo took him into his own arms immediately and the boy held tightly to him, his arms slung around his neck. "I'm s—so sorry, Daddy—"

He soothed Kana to a quieter cry as Corrin stroked the boy's back.

* * *

Leo loved them, Forrest and Kana and Corrin, until he couldn't anymore. There was just something about it, the way he felt like he had fulfilled the way he lived his life, as if he had made up for the way his father had raised him. It was satisfaction, both in himself and in his family. His home. His love.

All because of the day Xander called Corrin to her last training session, Leo had a family like no other.

And in some odd way, he was grateful.

* * *

a/n: and there you have it. Two childhoods and some pretty angsty parents in about 8000 words. Hopefully you've enjoyed thus far!;)

I had to adjust around the obvious fact that Deeprealms were used in some cases (such as Shiro), but not in others. Forrest is an obvious example, as he only grows to love dresses and such because his father complimented him that one time...so I worked around it and made it so its because his mother encouraged it and he grew up with Sophie and Nina ;;


	5. v

_a/n: so, this is the shortest chapter of them all. It's basically just a closer, right before the very end. It's a pretty teary one, not going to lie. Enjoy!:)_

* * *

 _v._

 _[So thank you for this life you have given me, Corrin. For the love, for the tears, for the years. I cannot think of any other way to have spent my life on this world than with you. In certainty, forever and always, I have loved you, I love you, and I will always love you. Remember that, won't you?]_

So many years spent together, so many memories, so many loves and tears and kisses.

They grew old together and eventually, Leo stepped down from the throne. There was no surprise when Forrest shook his head politely and Kana took it in stride, his love for peace and for happiness the best possible thing a ruler could have brought for Nohr. Kana would do his people well, Leo knew, and so he blessed his youngest son and set the crown atop his head on his twenty-first birthday. The people, who had always assumed that Forrest would take to the throne, were surprised but not upset as Kana was a clear picture of the future and, in many ways, both of his parents: two rulers who had treated the kingdom fairly and helped it recover after the long years of the war.

Forrest had taken Brynhildr as a legacy, and it would be passed on for the generations to come, as Leo had always wished for it to be.

Leo and Corrin moved to a house outside the palace, apart from the kingdom for the first time in their lives. They lived on the grounds still, but their cozy home on the grass was still something different, something for the both of them to enjoy as they sat back and watched their sons grow and Nohr take its place in the world.

Hoshido still had a strong bond with the kingdom of Nohr, and because of Corrin's marriage, there was no doubt that there would be for a long time to come. King Kana and King Shiro had already agreed that peace would rule so long as they were crowned; Shiro's daughter, too, proclaimed that she would keep the peace when she became of age, and there was no doubt that if Kana's children were anything like him, no warfare would be found for miles.

For two kingdoms once at war, the two prospered well into the years, growing and expanding, the people happy once again. Crime was low, though it was still there, and the guards kept a careful eye on the townspeople who glared a little too long at the palace.

It was a peaceful existence, and Leo realized it as he sat with Corrin on their front porch, curled together on a seat he had brought specifically from the palace. They sat out and watched as some children ran past their front yard from town, thoughtlessly waving as they passed, yelling and hooting, their voices filled with a joy that all children should have.

Leo knew Corrin was smiling at the childhood she never had.

But he also knew she was smiling at the memories she had earned, the ones her children had given her. He knew she was remembering Kana squealing after her, toddling, and Forrest yanking at her hair, his bright smile always beaming up at her. She was remembering them.

And he was proud to say he was a main source behind the smile that almost never left her face.

They settled into a life of content, a life of slow days and setting suns and watching the stars at night. It was never a hurried existence, not after the Great War, and now the war was only in songs, sung and told in the bars and the taverns. Corrin was well-known by the children as the Hero and often stopped in the morning from her flowers to tell them stories, the dozens of children gathered in a circle at her feet as she retold what all her adventure had been in the war of the tales.

Their children visited often, Forrest with Nina on his arm, and Kana whenever he could spare the time. The boy had grown into a fine king; he ruled with a steady head and a careful hand, though there were quite a few more festivals and balls then when Leo had been king. Kana had grown tall and looked exactly like his father, though his hair had remained spiked up since his teenage years. He took care of Nohr and Nohr took care of him.

Camilla had passed on before anyone could protest, her body failing her after something zapped her strength and she couldn't move from her bed. Corrin and Leo visited her one last time and remembered the times in the Northern Fortress—a place that had been long torn-down by now—and the war and their childhood. They rememebered Xander and Elise and their Father, all the times they spent laughing and playing and smiling; the times that had been eventful after the war, like the weddings and the births and the coronation. She passed with Sophie and Silas at her one side, Leo and Corrin on the other, but she smiled and passed with ease. She was young, in terms of death, but it was inevitable, and she moved on with a quiet breath and a slim smirk, just as she had always done.

It was a bittersweet moment for Leo to see his third sister put into the ground, buried beside his youngest and his oldest sibling. He cried, of course, but he knew she was happy still—her and Elise had so much catching up to, he doubted they would be done by the time he arrived. Corrin had filled both her and Elise's stones with enough flowers to last for weeks, and then they had left without much else, tears in the eyes, but hearts on their sleeves.

As the kingdoms flourished and the world turned, however, things were set into motion that Corrin could never really explain.

It was a morning just like any other and she was cooking in the kitchen, tending to the tea that was set in a kettle over the flames. She pulled it off to pour two cups, one completely left alone and the other with four sugars and a bit of milk. Corrin took the one left alone and sipped at it before moving towards the bedroom, her head poked around the corner, still playfully as she had done for the past hundreds of mornings.

"Sleepyhead," she called, moving fully into the room. "It's nearly noon! Time to get up!"

Corrin dropped her teacup onto the floor and it shattered.

Leo was propped up, but he was pale and coughing—his aged face was weary, but he was trying to smile at her, his eyes a bit bright. He coughed again. "G—good morning, darling."

"Leo!" She rushed to his side and he was coughing again, this time blood coming away with his hand. "I'm fetching the doctor," she told him, and she was gone in an instant, yelling for the messenger boy.

He ran for the doctor as she returned to their bedroom.

Leo was quiet as he watched her come in, his face sad. She went to his side and he let her, his worn hands catching both of hers between his, holding her close to him.

"He can't help you, can he?" She whispered, and her eyes held his, unsteady as she may have been.

He shook his head.

Corrin climbed atop of him like she always had, her body curling into his like a missing piece, and he welcomed her warmth, her familiar warmth at his side. She soothed him with a soft, aged hand and he held her tight to him. "How long?" She asked.

"Long enough," Leo answered.

The doctor came, but he confirmed what they already knew; it was the same thing that had gotten Camilla, apparently something that had been etched into their blood long ago. Their father's dark magic had likely seeped into their bones, and now, it closed in on his heart, forcing his health into a state of loss. It was something no one could cure. It was something even love could not surpass.

Leo was going to die.

He knew it, and had accepted it; he had lived a full life.

He had lived a full life, but only because she stood at his side.

And he was content.

He had loved, had been loved, and had left his mark on the world the way Xander would have wanted it.

Kana and Forrest had just left his bedside for what would be the last, both a bit teary-eyed, both a bit in shock, and Leo had a moment to himself as Corrin spoke to Silas beyond the door. At the table to his left was a quill, a bit of parchment, and a glass of ink.

He saw his chance and he took it.

Leo reached for the quill and parchment and began to write.

It was to be his last letter in this life.

And he was okay with that.


	6. vi

_a/n: this is it! pretty crazy quick, but I hope you enjoyed this very fast and hectic fic, and that I didn't break your heart too bad. Can't wait to share what all I've been working on, but until next time, enjoy! :)_

 _don't forget to let me know what you thought/what could use some work/what you'd like to see, etc! it would be greatly appreciated._

 _also, please drop by my profile and vote on what you'd like to see me write next! I'm open to anything, so if the choices aren't what you wanted to see, feel free to PM me :)_

 _read on!_

* * *

 _vi._

 _[All the love in the world.]_

My Corrin,

You'd think that so many years spent at your side would have taught me that you would outlast me, though I'm younger and you surpass me in days. Still, it hurts me that you'll be the one to feel the most pain that love can bring: the end. It's a mess, all of it, but this world gives you what it wills. It seems the fates have been kind to us.

Before I'm unable to, I wanted to tell you everything that I can remember—all of it, from the very beginning to the now—and I know for certain that I cannot speak it, for it would take me too long and you would have nothing to hold when I've left you here. Perhaps a letter is cliché, but I was quite taken with the idea that you would have something of me to put close to your heart when I'm passed.

From the start, _you never did tell me how you felt those few days where you had to choose. I can't imagine they were anything worth remembering_ , so I never pried, not even in the many decades you've given me. Those years were the worst of them, the years where we fought and the blood of our people was spilt. It was so long ago, but it feels like yesterday, does it not? Ages ago, and now, the children sing of us in the battles and the tales, as they will for years to come. What a funny thought that is. I most vividly remember that _I didn't really see you again until the day I was ordered to kill you. I knew it was unavoidable, but it still hurt me…. There were only a few battles before that one, but they never really mattered; I never truly intended to kill you in those. But this one I did_ and it scared me, mostly because I knew I had met my defeat before we even went to battle. I couldn't hurt you, much less kill you. It was a lost battle before you even looked into my eyes.

 _It was after the war that things settled in and settled down. I was there right before you faced Father and right before the death of my two closest friends. It's funny, the way that one love is sacrificed so that another sort of love may live on. I realized that when I asked you to marry me under a Hoshidan cherry tree._ Xander and Elise gave their lives for us, so that we may live on and give such a love, the entirety of the world would envy without meaning to. I believe they knew that, you know, that we would do the things we did. Nohr has prospered so greatly since the Great War, Xander must have known what good we were bound to do. I still believe he would have made a better king than I, but in his stead, I must have done well enough for him to shine the sun upon us every so often.

Our lives really started after that, when we were married and the time passed so quickly, I couldn't count the days anymore. _I always knew that you would be a great mother; you had grown up without the love of one, and because of it, you knew exactly what was needed. You were nervous, though, and I can't say I blame you—our children were quite the pair. Just when I thought I couldn't love anything more…_ they proved me wrong, Forrest and Kana. I know they'll do the royal family proud, and then on and so forth. Kana has already made a successful king, and Forrest will rule as his advisor for many years to come. Their children will bring Nohr only happiness and peace. It is a beautiful existence we have created, Corrin. The grandchildren will realize that someday, just as we have.

I know you will keep an eye on them for me when I'm passed, the children and the grandchildren, and by the gods, with your luck, probably the great-grandchildren. You've hardly aged a day since the day we married, you know, and it's quite unfair. I know Forrest chides me for telling you so, but your hair, grey or not, is still the prettiest and finest I've ever seen. Though your eyes have always been my favorite.

 _So thank you for this life you have given me, Corrin. For the love, for the tears, for the years. I cannot think of any other way to have spent my life on this world than with you. In certainty, forever and always, I have loved you, I love you, and I will always love you. Remember that, won't you?_ I won't be here to tell you so, but I hope you find it in the things around you.

I hope you find it in the fountain in the town center, where you pushed me and I fell.

I hope you find it in the rain and the windowsill, the cherry tree where we laughed and I told you I'd love you forever. The tree where I promised to care for you, in sickness and in health, and the bed I proved it to you, many times over.

I hope you find it in the room Forrest and Kana joined us, where we gazed into their eyes and found ourselves whole, a family, complete. The room where you sang both our sons to sleep each night, the one where they grew and they laughed and they played.

I hope you find it in our sons themselves, their eyes and their laughs, and the success and the love they have found for themselves. They were made from us, after all—if they aren't proof of it, I don't know what else is.

Most of all, I hope you find it in yourself, how I have loved you for so many years and kept my promise that I made so long ago. Though many things have been uncertain, you, my Corrin, never have been.

I'll die an analytical man, just as I've always been, but you really did teach me the most valuable lesson of all. Love is real, and by the gods, is it worth it.

I'll wait for you, always, in the world passed, until you find me. Xander and Elise and Camilla—they wait for me there, beside my real father, so do not weep. You will see me again. That, too, I am certain in.

Thank you for your life and for mine, my love.

 _All the love in the world,_

Your Leo.

* * *

Corrin reread his letter as she sat atop his grave, his name etched into a stone set beside his brother and his sisters. The long and tedious service for his death was long over, but she wouldn't leave, not yet—it was too real if she left him, that he was gone now and she was really alone.

There's something that can never be named, as Leo had always told her, his grin a sideways, crooked smile on his face as he told her so, something that is only between two people and can't be expressed. It's a feeling that sets everything straight, but turns everything upside down. It makes no sense, but it fills up empty hearts and sets them anew, fresh and clean, a happiness within them so strong, there is nothing left but the joy there.

Corrin figured he had spoken of their love, of how it had developed and changed from such a puppy love to a whole and true feeling, an expression of only devotion and truth. But she realized, now, that he spoke of how they were connected, of how they stood together. He spoke of how he loved her so much, nothing would stand in their path of a happy life, not outraged fathers or growing nations or cold siblings.

Not even death.

She stood from his grave and dusted her skirts, folded the letter into the pocket of her shirt beside her heart, and then looked to the sky.

And she smiled.

Because of all the fates and the choices and the paths, she had found one that led her straight to a life of love and of happiness and of peace. She had lived a life out with Leo, and now, he would live one through her. It had started with mischief, a locked away tower and stolen kisses behind closed doors. Then it had been a war between those she loved and those she loved more, a conflict that had marred both of the nations she couldn't live without. It was her life with Leo, however, after the war and the pain and the choices, that had brought her such a smile, such a happiness that she could feel free in her love for her life and for her blood, both the blood that had been spilt and the blood that now thrummed through her grandchildren's veins.

Corrin realized that she, too, was content.

 _Thank you_ , she thought as she stared into the endless sky, the same sky she had gazed upon in the Northern Fortress, in the castle where she raised her children, and now, on the grave of the person she had loved the most. _Whatever fates are out there, thank you for this beautiful and intricate path you carved for me._

Corrin took a deep breath and then began her descent down the long and winded road home.

* * *

"Leo! C'mooonnnn, we've got sparring to do!"

The voice was familiar somehow to the young prince as he curled in his bed, shifting so he could block out the noise. He felt stuffy, like he had no room to breathe, and moved onto his side. "Not now, Corrin, I'm _sleeping_ …"

"But the sun is up and we totally can't keep Xander waiting again! He's waiting on us. I'm ten years old now, don't you know? I don't mess around anymore...so let's go!"

C _orrin...?_

Leo groaned into his pillow, but he sighed and gave in, twisting over and sitting up.

And as time and space passed, Leo opened his eyes in another world to a brand new fate.

* * *

 _a/n: thanks so much for reading! don't forget to PM me if you have any questions or leave a review if you have anything to say :) I don't bite! see you all next time!_


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